2 Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move
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Darja Zaviršek
Abstract
In recent years, several art projects have addressed the issue of migration, which is a relevant social work topic. Yet social workers are often part of the machinery of securitisation and bureaucratisation of the social field, even though they formulate their work primarily in the discourse of ‘helping’. They often see migration as a problem of nation-state protection and not as a human rights issue. The question raised in this chapter is whether social workers, including social work students in countries with extreme refugee hostility, might become more engaged with the problems of migration through the use of critical art. Participatory art does not moralise or lecture, but is a way of identification, of emotionally grasping what is very far from the experience of students and social workers, and can therefore sharpen their epistemological flexibility and strengthen their humanistic perspective despite mainstream nationalisms. In the post-socialist countries of Southeast Europe, social work and politics have become conflated, and social workers have very limited capacity to think critically and advocate for a ‘new state’. The use of participatory art could connect critical social work with the engaged and action-oriented practice of social work in the field of migration in a transdisciplinary way.
Abstract
In recent years, several art projects have addressed the issue of migration, which is a relevant social work topic. Yet social workers are often part of the machinery of securitisation and bureaucratisation of the social field, even though they formulate their work primarily in the discourse of ‘helping’. They often see migration as a problem of nation-state protection and not as a human rights issue. The question raised in this chapter is whether social workers, including social work students in countries with extreme refugee hostility, might become more engaged with the problems of migration through the use of critical art. Participatory art does not moralise or lecture, but is a way of identification, of emotionally grasping what is very far from the experience of students and social workers, and can therefore sharpen their epistemological flexibility and strengthen their humanistic perspective despite mainstream nationalisms. In the post-socialist countries of Southeast Europe, social work and politics have become conflated, and social workers have very limited capacity to think critically and advocate for a ‘new state’. The use of participatory art could connect critical social work with the engaged and action-oriented practice of social work in the field of migration in a transdisciplinary way.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
